Mail-box.



A. F; CUBBIN.

MAIL BOX.

(Application filed Feb. 21, 1901.)

(No Model.)

is i k 95:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE:

. ALBERT F. CORBIN, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO CORBIN CABINET LOCK COMPANY, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPO- RATION OF CONNECTICUT.

MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,450, dated April 15, 1902.

Application filed February 21,,1901. Serial No. 48,237. (No'modeL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT F. CORBIN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a de scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein 1o Figure-1 is a front view of such a mail-box in a level or horizontal adjustment. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same mail-box in vertical adjustment. Fig. 3 is an end View of the box in the same adjustment as shown in I5 Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a top View of the same mailbox in the adjustment shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a View in vertical section on the plane w w, in large scale, more particularly designed to illustrate the stops for the box in its different adjustments. Fig. 6 is a view which shows the preferred construction of my selfsignaling box.

The object of the improvement is the production of a mail-box well adapted for use in 2 5 what is generally known as rural delivery.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the box, which is preferably circular in form and closed at both ends, one end being closed by the door I), which is provided with a look. This mail-box is pivotally hung at or about its center or in any suitable upright 0. This pivoting of the box may be attained by means of a pivot-shaft 01, fast to the box, running through a raised plate e,

3 5 with nuts f at the rear of said raised plate.

The letter 9 denotes a fiat-faced boss, fast to the box a. On the face of this boss there are ball-faced tenon-points g. In the raised plate 6 there are depressions fitted to receive the tenon-points g. The spring 71;, bearing against the nuts f, tends to hold the tenonpoints into such depressions when the two are brought into correspondence and to hold these tenon-points against the face of the raised plate at other times. It will be readily un derstood that this arrangement gives what may be called spring-stops for the different adjustments of the mail-box.

By pressure on the mail-box it can be swung from one adjustment to another without any special care being exerted in the operation. By preference there are four of these tenonpoints, with corresponding depressions in the raised plate, so that the mail-box has practically four positions of adjustment in its cir- 5 5 cle of rotation.

This box may also be secured to its support by a hinged joint, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. With this construction it is not necessary to provide positive means for retaining the box in position, as gravity would form means for holding the box in its different positions. The dotted lines in Fig. 6 show the box in its second position.

By placing-the mail-box in one or another 6 5 of its adjustments the mail-carrier can give signal as to whether he has or has not left mail in the box and the mail recipients can do the same thing for the letter-carrier-that is to say, the box itself in its different posi- 7o tions constitutes its signal.

By looking the door of the box at the end and making it capable of adjustment, as already described, the door of the box can be left undermost when, for instance, there is mail therein, and so efiectually preyentthe entrance of rain or the like, even though the door should not be storm-tight I claim as my improvement 1. A tubular mail-boxclosedatone end and 8e having an attached door at theopposite end, Kr,

and means for pivotally supporting said box at a point between its ends whereby the/box is permitted to move in a verticaLplane.

2. A self-signaling mail-box comprising a tubular shell closed at one end and having an attached door atits opposite end, and a pivotal connectionbetween the box and a suitable support secured to one side of the tubular shell at a point between its extremities, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

3. A box hung pivotally and adapted by to occupy difiierent positions in combination swinging on its pivots to occupy diiferent with spring-stops for its different adjust- 10 positions in combination with spring-stops ments, all substantially as described and for for its difierent adjustments, all substantially the purposes set forth.

5 as described and for the purposes set forth. ALBERT F. OORBIN.

4. In combination the round box pivotally \Vitnesses: hung and provided with an end door, said O. N. BALDWIN,

box being adapted, by swinging on its pivot,

L. B. HERRICK. 

